German internet cannibal begins murder trial

A German man accused of killing, dismembering and eating the flesh of another man who he met through the internet went on trial for murder today.

Armin Meiwes, a 42-year-old computer technician, admits stabbing Bernd-Jurgen Brandes, 43, to death and partially eating him at his home in Rothenburg, Germany.

Meiwes is alleged to have advertised on the internet for a well-built male prepared to be slaughtered and then consumed.

He told a German newspaper that Brandes answered the advert and went voluntarily to Meiwes' home, where he agreed to let Meiwes cut his penis off. Meiwes then cooked it and served it up for them to eat together.

He says he then stabbed Brandes through the neck, chopped his body into pieces, deep-froze parts of it and buried the rest. He captured the whole process on a videotape that is forming a key part of the prosecution's evidence.

Although the prosecution concedes the killing was carried out with the victim's consent, Meiwes is still being charged with murder and faces a life sentence if convicted. The prosecution claims the killing was sexually motivated.

Dressed in a dark suit, Meiwes appeared relaxed as he sat down next to his lawyer at the Kassel state court today.

The world's media have gathered in the central German town for the country's first cannibalism trial - though it has no law against eating human flesh.

Police arrested Meiwes in December last year after a student in Austria reported seeing the advertisement he had placed on the internet seeking a man willing to be killed and eaten.

His trial is scheduled to hear 38 witnesses. A verdict is expected in February.